Lexington1020

RNY Gastric bypass: May 10th 2016
SW: 408LBS 
CW:  212LBS
GW:  200LBS
 

Orlando was fun this past weekend, and I am on my way home from this work trip to California.  I'll be home for about 2 weeks this time, so that gives me my first opportunity to get back out there in Huntsville since my ex and I broke up almost 3 weeks ago.  Living in a new city with no friends is a little daunting, but I'm ready to take this new body (and re-invigorated spirit) out for a spin!

Post op Day 22...
So the dreaded stall is here....first I was angry,sad,depressed. I think I might have gone through every emotion possible in a matter of a few days...oh lets add confusion. I have been reading too much into other peoples journeys and I simply must stop. I took a break from FB, next might be insta.....then today I was just researching more about the stall and I found a thread were this woman made perfect sense....
"Please remember, Weight Loss Surgery is NOT a diet, it’s a lifestyle change which requires patience, diligence, mindfulness, change of old habits, etc.; it’s not a quick fix. It really does sound like you are doing very well and you just need to keep going and be kind and loving to yourself and embrace your success right where you are."
I have been expecting fast results when my body is still healing, my wounds are not even all the way closed up. I am doing more damage by fretting or physicking myself out. I need to relax and continue with my new lifestyle and give it to the Lord. My body is so tired, I get tired in the shower washing my hair. I also think I am about to have a visit from Aunt Flow....so maybe that is playing a part. I felt more bloated and have been having those hunger pains more (usually I eat more during my time of the month) I also saw some candy and wanted it. I only liked candy during my time of the month.
Also there are a few people on this site who like to give backhanded compliments. Or even advice, this site does have wonderful information but sometimes the threads can go crazy and too many people have an opinion. Just going to keep doing what I am doing and walk more. I have been doing my correct water intake and staying within my approved foods. 
I hope everyone has a wonderful day! 

Wow....  43,328 people have viewed my profile.
I sure hope that i was able to at least inspire one person.... That would be nice.

As I was running this morning I was thinking. I am enthusiastic and determined after having WLS to get healthy and increase my fitness. I am doing this for me and no one else. The negativity and sometimes downright stupidity that I read on here does not have to impact me at all. 
So as much as I think I could help some others I am not going to enter into the craziness. I am going to stick with my status and the thread my friend and fellow sleeve sister @Newme17 started. 
Running is getting easier day by day. I ran 1.5 miles today with no walk breaks. I think I am done with walking.... it feels so good to say that.
Have a great day everyone!!

Post op Day 22...
So the dreaded stall is here....first I was angry,sad,depressed. I think I might have gone through every emotion possible in a matter of a few days...oh lets add confusion. I have been reading too much into other peoples journeys and I simply must stop. I took a break from FB, next might be insta.....then today I was just researching more about the stall and I found a thread were this woman made perfect sense....
"Please remember, Weight Loss Surgery is NOT a diet, it’s a lifestyle change which requires patience, diligence, mindfulness, change of old habits, etc.; it’s not a quick fix. It really does sound like you are doing very well and you just need to keep going and be kind and loving to yourself and embrace your success right where you are."
I have been expecting fast results when my body is still healing, my wounds are not even all the way closed up. I am doing more damage by fretting or physicking myself out. I need to relax and continue with my new lifestyle and give it to the Lord. My body is so tired, I get tired in the shower washing my hair. I also think I am about to have a visit from Aunt Flow....so maybe that is playing a part. I felt more bloated and have been having those hunger pains more (usually I eat more during my time of the month) I also saw some candy and wanted it. I only liked candy during my time of the month.
Also there are a few people on this site who like to give backhanded compliments. Or even advice, this site does have wonderful information but sometimes the threads can go crazy and too many people have an opinion. Just going to keep doing what I am doing and walk more. I have been doing my correct water intake and staying within my approved foods. 
I hope everyone has a wonderful day! 

I'll be 9 months post op this week, 90lbs down.  I've been stalled at 200lbs since 07/01/2017, just waiting for the descent into Onderland.  Staying on plan and working out 5 days a week since mid-June and nothing...not an ounce.  Was looking over my fitbit data today and noticed that since the first my body fat percentage has dropped from 42.5 to 37.2%, so that's something!

Ok, I need some accountability from my friends here. I am starting to want to buy every cute running outfit I see, and I just bought a new pair of running shoes just so I can rotate between three, and of course they are all different colors so they match what I am wearing. I need to get a handle on this fast because this isn't like me. I can talk myself into buying these things easily by telling myself it is for a good cause, but really I don't need a different outfit for every day of the week and these are all summer outfits.
I am running late today. I just finished my run and I am supposed to be on my way to work. I need to hit the shower. I am glad I have confessed my sins to y'all...lol... have a great day. 

Post op Day 20...
I haven't posted an update for a few days because I was feeling blue. Mostly TBH- having a pity party because the scale had not moved in a few days. I also was reading too many post on here and sometimes I would compare myself to others, or chastise myself for not counting the calories more. But honestly most of the food I I have been eating is at 1/2 a cup or less. I have found for me to get in my protein I am needing to continue to drink at least 1 Premier Protein drink  a day. Sometimes I also add an isopure, because I am so scared of not meeting that goal. Plus I noticed some hair coming out in the shower...not much. But it has been soooo long since I lost hair (to be exact since 2010 when I had my son) My husband has been so helpful...and encouraging. Last night I made vegetarian chili with three different types of beans. It was much more satisfying then having a little bit of sweet potato (which I never liked until after surgery) I do not really care for my post op diet. It has me eating a lot of  low fat cheese/ diary products and beans. I am not really a fan of diary to begin with. I am just getting tired of not having real protein I suppose. I am ready for some grilled chicken!! On a side note after I cooked dinner and read my son a book I got on the treadmill....I am noticing I cannot walk as long (my back starts killing me and my tummy hurts) but at least I walked. I know this isn't very motivational but I want to remember the highs and lows. 

Day 14- Today going to see surgeon for first post op visit. 

Month 2 is in the books! I am 8 weeks out today and weighed in this morning. Down 4lbs for the month. It's not the number I was hoping for, I had a few struggles this month and fell off the wagon a couple of times. I also had to play around with my eating program a bit, but I feel I have figured out what my sleeve needs. Eating 6x a day and limiting the number of calories I eat per meal has been working well.
Activity-wise, I'm plugging away with my daily walks. My activity tolerance is slowly improving and I'm not as dizzy as I have been, but I'm not trying to push it. I'm still heavy enough to feel small injuries. What I hope is that as I lose more weight the activity will come more easily for me. For now, I learned not to feel guilty or compare myself to others. As long as I am losing I'm doing ok. I also noticed that days I push myself too hard physically my hunger goes crazy. I'd rather take it easy on activity than to eat back all of my progress. 
Going into month 3, I feel like I have my eating program, activity program, and my food tracking figured out. I just need to stay focused and keep plugging away. I am happy that my weight is down for the month, but I'm hoping for a better loss next month. Let's do this!

Today 18 days after my 1st or 4 skin removal surgeries I was able to walk 1/4 mile with the walker. This is the farthest I have walked in over 30 year without any back pain. I am so excited that I was able to do this. When the 2nd skin removal surgery is done in the Fall I may be able to walk without the walker. To be able to do all the activities that were taken away from me over 30 years ago would make me so very happy and proud at what I have accomplished over all these years. Over 280 pounds gone, smaller boobies and soon a smaller tummy and than 2 more skin removal surgeries is a lot to go through but it is so worth it in the end. 

Today I am patting myself on the back. I did my 1st full gym workout after being cleared last week. I was on the treadmill for 20 minutes. I alternated among running on 0 incline and walking on an incline. I haven't run on the treadmill for almost 10 years at this point. I even did weights afterward for a decent 40 minute workout.  Just a proud day. 

I noticed something this morning, I haven't been checking my blood sugar as often as I usually do. It has been my habit for the past 3.5 years to check it as soon as I get up and 2 hours after eating either lunch or dinner. I am falling out of the habit because every time I check, it is awesome. I checked my meter just now and my 30 day average is 88 with N=37. In the past N would have been at least 60, but usually closer to 70. I guess I am getting more confident in the realization that I really don't need to take any medications to have a stable, great,and completely normal non-diabetic blood sugar reading.
I ran my longest distance this morning 2.5 miles. My pace is still really slow because I am running for 5 minutes and walking for 1.5 minutes, rinse and repeat. I am ahead of schedule with the C25K. When the program tells me my workout is complete to begin cool down, I run another segment of run/walk. I just don't feel ready to stop and want to increase my mileage. I am amazed at how energetic I feel on the days I run as opposed to my rest days. Yesterday I was a sloth all day. Saturday is my Sabbath day so I observe the day of rest completely.The only thing I did yesterday was go to church, post here, and read. I felt sluggish all day. I have decided I need to watch less TV. It just encourages me to be lazy. I am going to limit my time in front of the TV to 1 hour every other day. I want to be more productive in other areas of my life and this is one way to do it. 
Have a great Sunday everyone!

DS surgery tomorrow.  Feeling very nervous. It's been great seen your stories and success 
.

Post op Day 16...
Last night for dinner I was really craving Mexican food. I had purchased some fat free refried beans and avocados and some salsa. I am sure someone has done this before but I hadn't ever and I am shocked I haven't done this before. But I halved the avocado and warmed the beans and topped it with a little bit of cheese I put maybe 1 tablespoon inside the avocado and topped it all off with salsa. OMG. It was so yum. I only ate 1/4 of it (which was one half of the avocado) and I was very satisfied! I cannot wait until down the road I can do this with some lettuce and sprinkle ground turkey on top. I also have positive feedback on my calcium chews...they had me wait a bit before I started taking them...same with the iron pills (which I take at night) but the chews are like tootsie roll consistency and taste like a very healthy brownie. Tonight we are going to the drive in movie and I really really really want some popcorn. I know I shouldn't...good thing it is a drive in and I will not be smelling it as bad as if it were in the movie theater. LOL  Happy FRIDAY!

Post op Day 15....
For dinner last night I nibbled on some very mushy broccoli with a hint of lemon and pepper and a touch of salt. It was DELISH! I probably had 2 bites of that and then I had paired it with my Ricotta Bake. I maybe had 3 bites of that. I am still learning the feeling of what is "full". The DS is not like the gastric bypass. Things seem to go down much easier as opposed to the gastric bypass it was coming up regardless if I liked it or not. I am thankful for that experience only because I will not over eat. I am scared to throw up especially with my wounds still very much present and hurting occasionally. ( I think the nerves are reconnecting) But on that same point I am scared I may not eat enough. Today I still brought a protein drink and I had half left over from work. So now I have had thus far 1 full protein premier protein and a half and 3 bites of my ricotta bake that I brought. I also brought some non fat yogurt but I doubt I will open that. I know I cannot live in fear but I do not want to not make my protein intake for the day. I have been getting the water in but I noticed my urine not as clear as prior to surgery. Oh well....I will keep trucking.

7/8 - Extremely healthy keto day. 
7/9 - Halo Top 1/2 Cup Chocolate Mocha Chip (I am in heaven!!). Healthy keto day. Weighed in at 208.4 lbs. Gained 1.4 lbs  
7/10 - Hung out at Coney Island with my Mom, little Brother and my dog Buddy aka Rasta Scoobs. At Nathans Philly Chicken with no bun. The guy gave me the nasty look when I ordered it. (It was like really, you are going to come here and want to eat healthy at Nathans?). With a nasty tone, he says, "It's going to be the same price and the same amount of meat." So in an even nastier tone, I said, "Did I ask about the amount of meat or the price? No. I asked for a Philly Chicken with No Bun. Thank you." He just placed my order and my brother says, "Don't be surprise if you find some special sauce or a hair floating around in it lol."
7/11 - Keto Day. Decided to step on the scale and weighed 205.4 lbs. I was like WTF!!! What is going on? At this point my weight is fluctuating up and down. I think I maybe starting stall soon and my body is warning me. It could also be water weight. 
7/12 - Another Keto Day. Went out to eat with my mom and brother and I was upset because I could have the Tacos of Bell. My mom keeps saying, "Oh you have your meal prep and you have been doing so good on your diet. Taco Bell is not good for you." I was like then why are you eating it. She says, "I'm grown and your mama. Do as I say and not as I do."  She is right but sooo annoying sometimes. 
7/13 - My day was healthy. Received two new Hidrate Spark bottles. Gave one to my mom and brother. They are in love and I set them up on their phones. 
Breakfast: 2 egg whites boiled with salt. 
Snack: 2 pickle slices
Lunch 1 - 2 : 2.1 oz of turkey with a tomatoes, a little cheese, romaine lettuce and my special dressing. (Broken up into 2 meals)
Snack: 21 olives. 
Dinner 1 - 2: 4 oz of ground beef, a little cheese, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream and salsa. (Broken up into 2 meals)
 
 
 
 
 

Post op Day 15....
For dinner last night I nibbled on some very mushy broccoli with a hint of lemon and pepper and a touch of salt. It was DELISH! I probably had 2 bites of that and then I had paired it with my Ricotta Bake. I maybe had 3 bites of that. I am still learning the feeling of what is "full". The DS is not like the gastric bypass. Things seem to go down much easier as opposed to the gastric bypass it was coming up regardless if I liked it or not. I am thankful for that experience only because I will not over eat. I am scared to throw up especially with my wounds still very much present and hurting occasionally. ( I think the nerves are reconnecting) But on that same point I am scared I may not eat enough. Today I still brought a protein drink and I had half left over from work. So now I have had thus far 1 full protein premier protein and a half and 3 bites of my ricotta bake that I brought. I also brought some non fat yogurt but I doubt I will open that. I know I cannot live in fear but I do not want to not make my protein intake for the day. I have been getting the water in but I noticed my urine not as clear as prior to surgery. Oh well....I will keep trucking.

Well i am officially out of the 300 club, and I couldn't be happier!

Just got back from a whirlwind STL to DC road trip and I am exhausted!  Back at the gym and back at work today!  No weight gained, but no loss either.  Stuck at 200 lbs.  Come on Onderland!!!

Had my 3rd diet visit today (which is a restart in the process since I missed 2 appts) and it went very well. I lost 10.58 pounds (4.8 kg) since my last visit of April 28, about 10 weeks ago. They were very proud and encouraging. I talked a long time with the NP (bless her patience!) about some of my fears and anxieties about getting surgery and besides giving me lots of good info she reminded me that since I still have five visits to go before we can submit for approval, I have plenty of time to make decisions.
I am enjoying the new protein-focused diet which I find easy to stick to at the moment, and I am swimming every day which is also helping! Between the nutrition changes, therapy, and sleeping a bit better I am feeling pretty positive about my chances for success.
It looks like December is totally out for surgery since my final visit with the surgeon is 12/15 and the NP said it's 3-4 weeks for approval usually. So looking at the middle or end of January at the earliest. That will change some of my plans for school, but thankfully I planned ahead and I already have all the classes I need to transfer in the fall, so I can just take online or half-semester courses to allow for some downtime in Jan & Feb. I do need to be enrolled in at least 6 credits to keep some of my merit-related things in place, but I think I'll find something that works.
So once I get approved, they schedule a pre-op visit with anesthesia to get cleared for surgery and I will attend a class that gives all the nitty gritty about post-op care and diet. That will also be the start of the 2-week liquid diet which will continue for 2 weeks after surgery (or 3 weeks if I change to the VSG). I'm really looking forward to getting to this stage! I'm at 362.75 pounds at the moment and between the liquid diet and my pre-op diet changes, I would love to hit the operating table at 299. Can I do it in six months??????
Sorry for the rambling update! Hope everyone has a great weekend, and stay cool out there!!!!

Tomorrow I can eat scrambled eggs! I am really excited about this! I am also going to try to make a ricotta bake......even if I just get a bite of each down I would be a happy camper. I am also really proud--- today being Day 13 Post op--- I FINALLY got down two protein shakes! (60 grames protein) It is really hard - plus trying to get my water intake in as well. I have a very full feeling that has not gone away. Today was a good day, and  my 2nd day at work since surgery....feeling optimistic. My tummy is not hurting as much, I just wish I was back to sleeping normal. I am super tired and no caffeine until the end of the month...sheesh!

Tomorrow I can eat scrambled eggs! I am really excited about this! I am also going to try to make a ricotta bake......even if I just get a bite of each down I would be a happy camper. I am also really proud--- today being Day 13 Post op--- I FINALLY got down two protein shakes! (60 grames protein) It is really hard - plus trying to get my water intake in as well. I have a very full feeling that has not gone away. Today was a good day, and  my 2nd day at work since surgery....feeling optimistic. My tummy is not hurting as much, I just wish I was back to sleeping normal. I am super tired and no caffeine until the end of the month...sheesh!

Post OP- Day 12
So since my pre op meeting (June 5th) I am down 40 lbs. I have lost 14 lbs since my surgery June 28th. I saw my nutritionist this morning and she said I have to work to get in more protein. I have been getting better. They found during my surgery I had a hiatal hernia, which my doctor repaired. Sometimes I gasp for air as I have not been breathing for minutes. But I have been doing breathing treatments and it is much better. Yesterday I did over half a mile on the treadmill in under 14 min. That felt good, it felt good to sweat. I am so ready to get to the gym and hit the ground running. I know I have such a long road ahead of me but I am excited for the journey. For the first time I cooked dinner for my family last night and it felt soooo good. I had been removing myself from situations involving food.  My husband and son went to Mcdonalds and I just sat in the car and waited. I would get angry and I did not like that. Cooking for them gave me pleasure and I wasn't tempted at all surprisingly. I just tasted some sauce I made to make sure the flavors were on point and boom shacka lacka! Since my surgery I have lost a loved one and gained a niece, it has been such an emotional time for me but I know that God has a bigger plan for me. <3